In response to our recent article on alumni mementos, graduates from around the country described their own UB treasures— and why they still mean so much.

Treasures include Erie County 'Sheriff's Card'

I enjoyed your article on saving UB articles in the Spring/Summer 2000 issue of UB Today. I also saved various items following my years (1963-67) at UB, including the very same freshman beanie pictured in the article, as well as all my transcripts, student IDs and program cards.

In addition, I saved one of my most valued possessions from that era-my Erie County Sheriff's identification card, which allowed me to prove my age in various drinking establishments (the legal age then was 18, and since I was from New York City, I hadn't yet obtained a driver's license). I wonder if the Sheriff's Department still issues such cards?

Scott Forman, B.A. '67
Greensboro, North Carolina
suignrs@triad.rr.com

Editor's response: The Erie County's Sheriff's Department discontinued the practice of issuing sheriff's cards in 1982, according to Technical Sergeant Vincent Delgato.

Photo evokes memory of youthful confidence

I had to add my item to your pile of saved memorabilia. I still have my junior year (1967-68) photo student ID card with the holes punched at the bottom. Why I don't have the others, I have no idea; why I do keep this one, there's a good reason: I love looking at the photo, especially now that I've reached the age of a full deck of cards, plus the joker. I see a foxy 20-year-old smiling at me and seeming to say, "I've got the whole world ahead and nothing to stop me."

Deborah Price Adiv, B.A. '69
Tel Aviv, Israel

Memorabilia includes '70s athletic clothing

What I have saved from my time at UB is a wool UB baseball cap, a football manager's shirt (the shirt was a leftover from when the program was dropped after the 1970 season, yet never given out until I became the manager of the team in 1977), and two jerseys from the first three years when football was revived in 1997, given to me by longtime UB equipment manager Joe Stabille.

I also have the original shirts that were purchased by the players and coaches with "UB Bulls" and a UB football helmet on them, as well as a team jacket from the 1979 season.

Ronald Balter, B.A. '80
Brooklyn, New York

Alumnus kept tuition bills, other valuables

Referring to your article, "So what did you save?" in the Spring/Summer 2000 issue of UB Today, here is what I saved:

Not cool stuff:

All my human resources textbooks.

Cool stuff:

1. My cousin's UB jacket from the late 1960s (somewhere).

2. A red exit globe (probably an original from the 1920s). When Foster Hall was being renovated in 1979, I happened to be in the building. I asked one of the contractors for the globe, which was going to be discarded in favor of the more visible exit signs of the time, and he gave it to me.

3. All my tuition bills. First semester 1975 was $171.25 (includes TAP and a Regents Scholarship deduction).

4. Bicycle license plate from the late 1970s (Oh yes, I still have the bicycle that it was attached to).

Bernard Brothman, M.B.A. '80 & B.S. '80
Morris Plains, New Jersey

'Survival' sweater brings warm memories to mind

The sweater hangs from a hook on the coat rack in my office. It's dark blue, wool, with no frills-no woven cables, no elbow patches, no cuffs, not even a label. It looks like it belongs in the bottom of a trunk, buried in mothballs.

I wear the sweater only in the office, and only when the air conditioning overcools or the heating underheats. The rest of the time, it just hangs on the rack and delivers 35 years of memories, dating to the summer of 1965, when I was preparing to begin my freshman year at UB. The sweater is the only remaining purchase from a survival kit that my mother and father assembled for my move to the frozen tundra of Western New York.

My parents were in shock. They had told me I could go to any state school for college, but they hoped I would choose one closer to our home in Brooklyn. I had different ideas. I was accepted at Stony Brook and Buffalo. I chose Buffalo for three reasons: I had heard it was a great party school; I had heard that I could take skiing for gym class; and I knew that I would be about 450 miles from Brooklyn-as far as I could get and remain in the state.

As the acceptance deadline approached, my mother tried bribes, fear tactics and threats to convince me to go to Stony Brook: Buffalo was too far for me to come home on weekends (bad argument); Buffalo was too far for them to visit (worse argument); and Buffalo was too cold (who cared).

I chose Buffalo, and my parents decided they still were obligated to protect me. So they took me shopping for Arctic clothing: high, insulated work boots (before they were in style); thick woolen socks (too itchy to wear-ever ); woolen long johns (see "woolen socks," above); and a heavy khaki army coat. I was pleased to discover that the coat met '60s campus fashion standards. The blue sweater was instantly out of style.

But the sweater survived-at first, due to inertia, later to nostalgia. As a parent now, I smile when I recognize my parents' way of showing love and concern for their 105-pound, not-quite-17-year-old son who was leaving home for the first time. As a settled 51-year-old, I get a little misty-eyed when I remember arriving at UB. My parents dropped me off at my Allenhurst off-campus apartment, where male freshmen were housed. They drove off in tears; I felt a rush of glee, excitement and adventure that I had never felt before and have never equaled since.

I didn't find the wild parties-only a few beer blasts at Washington Hall downtown where Wilmer and the Dukes played. I skied on my own, but I had to settle for bowling and tumbling in gym class. UB, however, turned out to be a wonderful place for me to be and become myself. I found great teachers, mind-opening ideas and experiences, and-for the first time-close friends. I've attended other universities for graduate school since then, but none have produced such rich memories or challenged my loyalty toward and affection for UB.

By the way, I stayed warm.

Since Buffalo, I've lived in six different cities, as a teacher, counselor, newspaper reporter, doctoral student, and now associate professor of English at a community college in Louisville, Kentucky, and (as yet) unpublished author of children's stories.

Michael Ginsberg, B.A. '69
Louisville, Kentucky

Grass preserved in plastic bag recalls soccer days

After reading the article [on what constitutes a college keepsake] in the last edition of UB Today, I thought I would write and share something that I saved from my days at UB.

I have some grass. Not the kind you smoke, the kind you play soccer on. My days at school playing soccer were the absolute best of my life, and as my final home game in 1995 against St. Bonaventure came to a close, I ripped up a handful of grass from RAC Field to keep with me. It sits today as it always has, in a plastic sandwich bag along with some other soccer mementos that I have. It brings back many fond memories that I will have with me forever.

A weird thing to keep, certainly. But I thought you might like to know about it.

Mark Malikowski, B.S. '96
Medina, Ohio

Gold coffee mug serves up daily reminder of UB

I loved "So, what did you save?" ("UB alumni share cherished memories and possessions from their college years," Spring/Summer 2000).

A gold SUNYAB coffee mug sits on my desk at my law office beside my computer (holding a telephone headset earpiece). My folks found it when they moved a number of years ago, at which time I learned they had discarded copies of the Spectrum from 1969-70, AKA the "riot year," when the local police (or was it the National Guard?) were billeted on campus due to student strikes (UB as the "Berkeley of the East").

Barbara Reiner McEntyre, B.S. '73
Corte Madera, California

Alumnus keeps candy wrappers won in contest

I'm disappointed I didn't hear about your article "So, what did you save?" (Spring/Summer 2000 issue) sooner. I could have sent you a bag of 24 Tootsie Roll wrappers I won from WRUB, the old AM station based in Harriman Hall on the Main Street campus. My friend worked there and got me started listening to the station-even though reception was poor and few others tuned in.

One day they must have been testing if anyone was listening and offered a prize to the 24th caller. I started dialing and I think it was between me and one other caller for all the marbles, or rather, wrappers. I don't know what was more pathetic, the fact that I was listening, or that I actually picked up my prize. Nevertheless, I still have that bag as a reminder of one of the lighter moments of my freshman year.

Frank Stauss, B.S. '88
Elmsford, New York

Saved UB belongings include big steamer trunk

I loved your article [on items saved from one's college days], especially since it took me back to my own experience at UB, that being one of the best times in my life.

I still have a "souvenir" tear gas canister (empty, of course) from the riots of 1970. I also still have the big steamer trunk I used to ship my belongings to Goodyear Hall in 1966. When I moved off campus with six other girls to a little four-bedroom house on Tyler Street, that trunk became the "coffee table" for a couple of years. I still store some old treasures in it.

I don't know if this is sentimental or just my being a pack rat, but I also saved a few favorite textbooks, thinking they'd come in handy for something. Well, the insides of them haven't seen the light of day in 30 years, give or take a few. (How can that compute? I don't feel that old!) Are the Speech or Psychology Departments interested in a small vintage collection?

Marilyn (Clarfeld) Traugott, Ed.M. '73 & B.A. '70
Redding, California

Saved IDs recall success of three UB degrees

I read the article in UB Today entitled "So, what did you save?" and it brought back some memories. I served four years in the Air Force (1962-66) after flunking out of UB in 1962. I returned to the campus for the fall of '66 semester. I subsequently completed a B.A., M.S. and Ph.D. from UB (in different fields).

I still have my '66-67, '67-68 ID card. Why? I do not know! I also have several from the '70s. Every once in a while I retrieve them for a trip through memory lane.

Keep up the good work.

David Wachtel, Ph.D. '82, M.S. '76 & B.A. '69
Lexington, KY